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Monday, April 22, 2013

S is for Scourge of the Betrayer . . . and Steel Panther (#AtoZChallenge)

The A to Z Challenge is a daily meme posting every day (except Sundays) in April. Check out the list of 1500+ participants below and follow along for 26 days (and 26 letters) of fun. The 2-letter code after each blog name may help narrow your choices - (BO) is Books, (WR) is Writing, (PH) is Photography . . . and, if you're concerned about those NSFW pages, (AC) is Adult Content.

For my theme, I'm going with a little author/title alliteration.

Today's challenge post is brought to you by the letter S, as in Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards. The debut novel from Salyards wasn't perfect, but it had a lot to offer, and has me anxious to see what he can do with the next book in Bloodsounder's Arc. It was a dark and gritty fantasy, centered around a cast of characters who were definitely not your typical band of heroes, and narrated by the most reluctant member of their band, a scribe who isn't even sure he'll survive the journey.

The musical accompaniment for the day comes to us courtesy of Steel Panther. These guys are, hands-down, the best tongue-in-cheek musical homage to the heyday of hair metal around. They absolutely nail the over-the-top sexual innuendo, the attitude, and the glam look, but they pair that with some legitimate musical chops, creating a sound that could have come from the late 80s.